Archive for August, 2015

August draws to a close, leaving GenCon and most of Summer behind, hopefully seeing the last of Summer’s heatwave as well. September, which is seventh month of the Roman calendar, does not seem to have any particular ties to myth or man among the Romans, however, as Seven is usually viewed as a magical number, magic and spells will be our theme for this month. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see.

I will be out of town in early September to visit my mother and Washington, DC. May or may not be able to reply much while I am there but I will certainly have news to share when I return.

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To understand what is going on here, you had best read the first PinkCat: Running in the Shade post, but short summary, this is a campaign report for our Shadowrun campaign set in NorCal through the filter of a cartoon made by one of the team members.

Episode Thirteen: Music Biz

Guest Starring: Bladez and DD.

The team is hired to rescue a musician from a sleazy music promoter who has lured them away with promises of nova stardom. Lots of classic schtick of the team trying to get into the big concert to rescue them and having to try to outwit Gorillaz Security and avoid Officer Bloodhound. Finally they get through and convince the musician to return back to where they are loved and making the music they love rather than becoming a corporate manufactured idol. End scene of the musician playing a low key club gig with all of the team appearing in the crowd.

I have been working GenCon for AEG since 2000, missing two years along the way, mostly demoing games, and most recently back to Games Mastering. I have run per-packaged modules before but for the last three years, I have been creating and GMing the adventures for GenCon. So, this advice is primarily for GMs.

Be Prepared, have what you need (books, dice, notes) ready, but also have the minimum the players need as well: character sheets, dice, pencils, paper for name tents, and whatever else they may need for the adventure at hand.

For example: Legend of the Five Rings (L5R), which I GM, requires a fair number of D10s, so I have a bag of 30 for my own and the players’ use. (Though I do usually manage to forget something, this year it was extra pencils.)

Let the Players Make Informed Choices, player do not know your style of play and (in some cases) the setting and rules, so do not be afraid to stop the game to explain the situation, risks and rewards to the players. Start with making sure that the players are able to make an informed choice as to the characters they are playing, for something like Pathfinder Society where they build their own, this is not so much of a problem but when providing pre-generated characters it can be more of a challenge.

For example: Here are the cover sheets to the characters I used for my introductory L5R game, note especially the “Play this character if” section, that all of the advantages, disadvantages and school techniques are defined (so the player does not need to look at the rulebook), and, lastly, there are brief roleplaying hooks for the other characters. The “Play this character if section” and defining the Ads/DisAds was new for this year and very well received so I highly recommend a similar build for other GMs as it allows the players to find a character they want to play easily and then have to tools to do so immediately.

Let the Players Set the Tone, now, my default mode for games is drama to action movie, trying to move the plot along and playing a fairly serious game. But at a convention, you need to adapt to what the players are interested in, I start with my default setting and adjust from there. If people want something light, play up the absurdities of the situation and let fun coincidences happens. If they want something dark, the brutal combat system of L5R -for example- will help provide that. Roll with the mood of the table and the game will be better for it.

Be sure that you have eaten before hand and have drinks to hand, being hungry will throw you off your game, so eat, and not being hydrated will be rough on your body and your voice (which you will be using, a lot, as a GM at GenCon, as it gets noisy), so have water or other drinkable to hand. Throat drops can also be helpful.

Well, those are the big things that I have learned and that I think have made my games pretty successful over the years. I hope they prove helpful to you as well.

One of the ways news was spread of judicial punishment in early modern Europe was through murder ballads, recount the crimes and (more importantly) punishment of those executed. Your campaign needs these.

Any news of a historical nature catch your eye lately?

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Voddick closed the door and then opened it again, it was a spartan, cell like room on the other side with narrow windows. “That was a broom closet the last time I looked inside,” he said mostly to himself.

Gollaon peered over his shoulder and looked at the door frame. “Close it again.”

Voddick did so and his friend traced a sigil on the door. “Try now.”

Carefully, Voddick did so revealing . . . a broom closet with a plain gray box on the floor.

“Someone is playing nasty games,” said Gollaon, “and we need to find out who.”

Gaslighting Box

These odd items appear as nothing more than a plain metal box, careful examination will reveal that its lid is false and that it is in fact a sealed cube. Polishing the box with oil will reveal the concealed symbols that must be traced to activate its magic.

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There has to be an adventure in disrupting (or supporting) an internet troll factory, a place than manufactures opinion for a government, or megacorporation, by spamming social media with posts in support of this or against that. Fascinating.

Talor Swift’s video Bad Blood has the right sort of vibe for entertainment within the cyberpunk future. I see it as a future video game trailer with each of the named characters available as playable options.

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“Why are all those people flashing those bracelets?” asked Voddick. “Is it a cult? Because I do not need any more cults in my life. It cannot be fashion as they are too . . . tacky.”

Gollaon laughed. “If you find them so, it must be true.”

Voddick was about to defend his sartorial choices when a group of half-naked young folk, all wearing bracelets, chased each other around and through the pair. “Wait . . . what?” said a dazed Voddick as they ran off laughing.

“They are to worn during such celebrations to prevent unwanted . . . complications arising from carnal pleasures,” explained Gollaon. “When two or more of them are touched together they glow to prove they are still working. That is important, as their magic usually does not last any longer than the festivals they are worn for.”

Voddick just shook his head. “I find I am disturbed by the level of hedonism such magic implies.”

Festival Bracelet

These colorful bracelets are woven from brightly, but cheaply, dyed cloth or fibers, usefully in color associated with the festival being celebrated or the organization providing the bracelets or both. Their magic is triggered by tying them around ones wrist or ankle with a special knot (that cannot be undone, only cut) and the bracelet glows for a few seconds when it is activated.